Voters to decide on new police station next week

By Peggy Aulisio

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southcoasttoday.com

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Posted Dec. 6, 2012 at 12:25 PM

Posted Dec. 6, 2012 at 12:25 PM

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By Peggy Aulisio

Editor

ACUSHNET — During an arrest following house breaks in November, Acushnet police noticed a substance leaking from a suspect's arm after he left the bathroom. When they asked what it was, he said he had Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a highly contagious disease.

The substance had leaked on the floor in front of the entrance to the police station and the men who cleaned it up had to wear Hazmat suits to keep from being infected. This public bathroom in what was once was a school is the only rest room suspects and staff have to use.

Police Chief Michael Alves recalled the incident last Friday to help make the case that Acushnet needs a new police station. Voters will be making up their minds at the special town election on Monday, Dec. 10.

The police use 6,900 square feet of the Parting Ways Building. Plans for a new station on Middle Road call for a 11,100-square-foot station. Chief Alves said most of the added space is for a detention area with a sally port.

In a recent letter to the editor, a resident said the police should have looked for a grant before asking voters to finance a new station.

Asked about that, Chief Alves said there are no grants for new police stations in a non-urban town like Acushnet except for rural development grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He said he's already checked into those, only to learn that the median income for Acushnet households is too high to qualify.

The town is planning to use $500,000 of its own funds toward the estimated cost of a $5.7 million station, bringing it down to $5.2 million. To the owner of the average house assessed at $265,000, that means a payment of $87.24 a year for a 20-year bond, or $6.72 a month.

The chief said he's "beat the drum" over the past few months about the lack of a sally port and about leaks causing a strong odor of mildew in the basement, plus one area where the floor is sagging right by a detective's desk. As the police have outgrown their current quarters since moving there in the 1970s, some have moved into the dismal basement area. Fingerprinting function takes place in a basement area with thick electrical wires along a wall and very low ceilings. There's a caution sign over the door to the outside exit.

But the chief said the most recent incident with the contagious disease has raised his strongest concerns.

"We don't have the staff to lock this building down," the chief said, of the need to block off an area near the entrance to the entire building while it was cleaned. "This is about keeping the public safe," he said. "We're exposing people to contaminants."

The Planning Department and Board of Health have offices upstairs. Among the members of the public who come into the station are people seeking gun permits or young parents who come for help with car seat installations. In some cases, where there are child custody issues, the parents pick up a child at the station.

"That's young families coming here asking us to assist them," the chief said. "We're exposing people to contaminants."

Chief Alves said the MRSA isn't the first time they've had an incident with a dangerous substance. And he pointed out that the station area has wall to wall carpets, which are difficult to thoroughly decontaminate.

"The thing that concerns me is the liability we have," Chief Alves said. "We're exposing people to great risks every time they walk into this building. This is a public building used by a lot of different people."

A new station won't have carpets, he said. It will have floors that can be cleaned. The officers will be able to decontaminate themselves properly, the chief said.

Some of the deficiencies of the old building are not up to the government requirements for police stations today. Among them is the lack of a bullet proof window in front of the dispatch area. There is also no secure area for interviewing suspects.

The chief likes to point out that when they moved into the Parting Ways building about 30 years ago, it was supposed to be temporary. They started out using half a floor. Now they use the entire first floor, part of the second floor and the basement.

Since then, police work has changed quite a bit, Chief Alves said. "What went on 20 to 30 years ago is entirely different today."

The voters will have a chance to weigh in on that assessment next Monday.